The present invention is related to managing power supply systems and, more particularly, to a standby power supply system that ensures continuously-available standby power.
Many industries and applications have a critical need to assure that power sources will be able to supply critical loads in the event of a power failure. Such industries include, but are not limited to, telecommunications, power utilities, information technologies (for example, in banking, stock brokerage, and insurance applications) industries, and critical care medical facilities. Countless examples exist of power sources failing to operate as needed when required. These examples include events resulting in millions of dollars of losses, and events creating public hazards (including air traffic control system failures).
A standby power supply is generally a requirement of the power systems for these applications. A standby power supply can alternately be called an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) or a back-up power supply, or other descriptors, having slightly different designs but each being used to provide a continuous supply of electricity to critical equipment in the event of an electric utility outage. Such standby power supply systems generally include power conversion equipment, batteries, and controls to enable appropriate discharging and recharging of the batteries. Standby power systems are put into use only rarely, as utility outages are themselves rare. Because accurate testing of the standby power supplies is generally performed manually at discrete intervals, it is expensive and time consuming. Such testing is therefore not done frequently and there are sometimes problems with the standby power system failing to perform when required. Additionally, during the time period during which the testing is performed, the standby system is not available in the event of a power failure.
A standby power system is required that can reliably provide sufficient power for a critical load in the event of a power failure but that does not require frequent and expensive manual testing to ensure the reliability of the standby power.